this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2025
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17
"Recommended System Requirements" for buying a used PC for selfhosting (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 16 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
20 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I'm ready to graduate from my Raspberry Pi era of selfhosting and buy hardware specifically for use as a server.

I've been recommended in the past to look for used Lenovo Thinkstations and/or Dell Optiplex, but it has been so many years since I've shopped for a computer, I don't know what kind of specs to look for. What are the types of specs I should look for to get the best value for money?

I'm hoping to spend around $300-400, get something that can be upgraded in the future to last 10+ years, and do the following things:

  • YUNoHost / reverse proxy
  • Nextcloud with a custom domain for email addresses, cloud drive, photos
  • Music Streaming with something like Navidrome
  • Serve static websites
  • pi-Hole
  • Maybe pi-VPN

And someday maybe:

  • Host game servers like minecraft
  • Jellyfin for videos
  • Kodi and output to TV?

So far based on my selfhosted journey, I expect to want the following:

  • Room for 3+ Hard Drives
  • External UPS (probably will go with the cheap APC at Microcenter that's always on sale).
  • Solid Power Supply / Cooling
  • probably 1000 gigabit Networking (?)

The types of questions I have for Thinkstations / Optiplex:

  • How is the Power Supply / Cooling?
  • Processor? Do I need i5? i7? Generations? AMD? Clock Speed? I'm completely lost here.
  • How much RAM do I need?
  • Do I need a discrete graphics card? Can Thinkstations / Optiplex have a graphics card added to them later?
  • Anything else I'm missing?

Thanks!

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

1000 gigabit

πŸ€”

How many users do you expect this to serve?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 hours ago

All of them

[–] [email protected] 3 points 12 hours ago

lol, I assume he means 1000 Mbps aka 1 Gbps which is reasonable. Maybe even a little low as transferring files around fast is nice.